[citroeniste]

I've been seriously thinking about swapping out the HDD in my notebook (a 4GB deal in a Dell Inspiron 3000 with a 233MMX Pentium that once upon a time cost over 5 grand and is now worth maybe 5 bucks) with that in my MP3 player, a 20GB IBM.

Is there a way to painlessly transfer everything from one computer to the other? I just don't have the time to reinstall Windows 98 (with all of my settings), Office, and more importantly all of the assorted drivers and programs like RealPlayer and Flash and every other maddeningly slow d/l on a modem.

Apologies for my abject computer ignorance, and thanks for your help!

Peace,

Jay

NP: CNN, and even CNN sounds better on '580s....

 

[Redwoood]

get yourself a 3.5 inch to 2.5 inch IDE adapter cable (with power connectors) (15 $).
Connect the two small hard drives to the adapter, plug the cable into a 'normal' desktop computer und you can access both
drives without problems.
With Norton Ghost or similar programs (I think) you can just copy the image of the smaller HD to the bigger one.
As a free alternative, you can also use 'dd' a little utility that comes with Linux, xBSD and other Unix flavours. There is also a DOS version usually contained in the bootdisk directory of any Linuix distribution
If you can't find it I can point you to a place to download it.

Hope this helps, if not just ask again.

Bye
Redwoood

PS: do you really need to canabalize the MP3 player? Personally, I'd just buy a new drive (getting cheaper every day)
There couldbe problems with the big drive (non-standard connectors?) as well as with the smaller one in the player (maybe the firmware assumes a certain size?)

 

[Xander]

You've also got to consider BIOS compatibility issues... Your laptops BIOS may not even support a drive of 20GB.

 

[beowulf]

I second Ghost (recently purchased by Symantec) as a great software for OS/data transfer. I've relied it it many times and it never let me down.

 

[citroeniste]

Thanks, I'll check out Ghost. However, there's a small problem. I don't have a desktop computer anywhere near me. My mother, father, and my sister all, like me, have notebooks. But instead of running the extra cables, couldn't I just do it through the USB cable (my Neo25 shows the MP3 player as just another drive, and one can copy anything to it.)

As for changing the HDD from MP3 player to computer, it's the simplest solution, because I don't need that much space on the MP3 player. 4GB is actually just about perfect for the number of MP3's that I have. Also, then upgrading the HDD in the MP3 player is a snap. And by the time I eat through 20GB on the laptop, it will have failed and I'll buy a new one.

Peace,

Jay

NP: Raiders-Titans. It's not the Redskins, but I really missed Football....

Quote:

Originally posted by Redwoood get yourself a 3.5 inch to 2.5 inch IDE adapter cable (with power connectors) (15 $). Connect the two small hard drives to the adapter, plug the cable into a 'normal' desktop computer und you can access both drives without problems. With Norton Ghost or similar programs (I think) you can just copy the image of the smaller HD to the bigger one. As a free alternative, you can also use 'dd' a little utility that comes with Linux, xBSD and other Unix flavours. There is also a DOS version usually contained in the bootdisk directory of any Linuix distribution If you can't find it I can point you to a place to download it. Hope this helps, if not just ask again. Bye Redwoood PS: do you really need to canabalize the MP3 player? Personally, I'd just buy a new drive (getting cheaper every day) There couldbe problems with the big drive (non-standard connectors?) as well as with the smaller one in the player (maybe the firmware assumes a certain size?)

 

[CaptBubba]

no, your 20GB will have to be formated so it is bootable. You may be able to do this over the usb link (right click, select format, select quick and check copy system files). If you can do that, just copy everything else over, or use one of the may HDD mirroring things out there, don't know any names but they are quite numorus. Heh, you say that now (I'll only need 20GB) but I said that a year and a half ago and my HD is full now.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Gyah, citroeniste...

Most old Pentium 233MMX notebooks have BIOSes that can't recognize HDs larger than 8GB!! Most of those notebooks will format only 8GB of that 20GB capacity, with absolutely NO WAY of accessing the remaining 12GB. (The workaround for that common failure is to use drive-overlay software to format your HD - but using such software may cause new compatibility problems.) And worse, a few not only won't boot up, but won't even let you get into the BIOS with a hard drive larger in capacity than the BIOS maximum limit.

IMHO, it's not worth upgrading your 233MMX notebook to a hard drive larger than the 4GB that's currently in that notebook. In fact, if you want more HD space in a notebook computer than your current 4GB, you're WAY better off buying a brand-new notebook with a more up-to-date processor.

 

[neil]

There are utilities out there that will perform sector translations. However, if your notebook BIOS supports LBA, there's still a good chance you'll be able to format that thing beyond the 8 GB limit that some are talking about. Best thing to do is search the web/usenet for people/posts/messages about people who have done such hard drive upgrades.

Also, check to make sure that you have the latest BIOS update from Dell for your notebook.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Quote:

Originally posted by neil However, if your notebook BIOS supports LBA, there's still a good chance you'll be able to format that thing beyond the 8 GB limit that some are talking about.

LBA, in the traditional sense, is limited to a CHS (Cylinders/Heads/Sectors) translation of 1024/255/63, with 512 bytes per sector. That maximum equals roughly 8GB (or 8.4GB, if you trust the base-10 definition of GB). LBA was originally designed to break the 528MB (504MB, if you trust the base-2 definition of MB) barrier; without LBA, you would have no way whatsoever of formatting your HD beyond 528MB.

Quote:

Also, check to make sure that you have the latest BIOS update from Dell for your notebook.

However, it wouldn't be of much good if the current BIOS that citroeniste is using is the latest one available from Dell, or if the latest one predates the advent of such large-capacity notebook hard drives.

[Note the definitions:
1MB (Base-10)=10^6 bytes=1,000,000 bytes
1MB (Base-2)=2^20 bytes=1,048,576 bytes
1GB (Base-10)=10^9 bytes=1,000,000,000 bytes
1GB (Base-2)=2^30 bytes=1,073,741,824 bytes]

 

[citroeniste]

Hmm. My computer recognises the MP3 player has having 20GB of space. Is that any indication that it'll recognize all that space as my main drive? The BIOS is Dell's most recent for this model, A06 or something like that.

(It also shares said BIOS with the P2-233 and P2-266 Inspirons.)

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find Norton Ghost at a CompUSA, but there are several other computer stores in ATL.

Getting a new computer just isn't in the cards right now. Too many other expenses. For example, I'm going to the Opernball (7 Feb) in Vienna (and several other balls in Feb and March) and having a tailed dinner jacket made-to-measure by Knize (the Viennese Kiton or Brioni) for ball season; just tickets and the white-tie outfit are almost into five figure US$, so you can see why I can't afford a new notebook!

Thanks for all your help, guys!

Peace,

j

Quote:

Originally posted by Eagle_Driver Gyah, citroeniste... Most old Pentium 233MMX notebooks have BIOSes that can't recognize HDs larger than 8GB!! Most of those notebooks will format only 8GB of that 20GB capacity, with absolutely NO WAY of accessing the remaining 12GB. (The workaround for that common failure is to use drive-overlay software to format your HD - but using such software may cause new compatibility problems.) And worse, a few not only won't boot up, but won't even let you get into the BIOS with a hard drive larger in capacity than the BIOS maximum limit. IMHO, it's not worth upgrading your 233MMX notebook to a hard drive larger than the 4GB that's currently in that notebook. In fact, if you want more HD space in a notebook computer than your current 4GB, you're WAY better off buying a brand-new notebook with a more up-to-date processor.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

citroeniste,

My bad for those "old" Dell notebooks failing to utilise the entire 20GB. The Inspiron series is actually manufactured by Taiwanese ODM (Original Design Manufacturer)/OEM company Compal - and most notebooks use a Phoenix BIOS, which will very likely (at the time of the 233MMX processor) use the "bit-shift" translation method for large HD support over 8GB.

 

[Xander]

Quote:

Originally posted by citroeniste Hmm. My computer recognises the MP3 player has having 20GB of space. Is that any indication that it'll recognize all that space as my main drive? The BIOS is Dell's most recent for this model, A06 or something like that. (It also shares said BIOS with the P2-233 and P2-266 Inspirons.) Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find Norton Ghost at a CompUSA, but there are several other computer stores in ATL. Getting a new computer just isn't in the cards right now. Too many other expenses. For example, I'm going to the Opernball (7 Feb) in Vienna (and several other balls in Feb and March) and having a tailed dinner jacket made-to-measure by Knize (the Viennese Kiton or Brioni) for ball season; just tickets and the white-tie outfit are almost into five figure US$, so you can see why I can't afford a new notebook! Thanks for all your help, guys! Peace, j

That is no indication that you're machine will be able to use a drive of that size... One possible solution would be to update your BIOS using a flash upgrade program from their webside..

Also, simply formatting the disk wont make it bootable.. You'd have to have the drive physically accessable from the laptop, by either a network, or a direct connection to the IDE bus, so that you could sys the drive from floppy, etc..

It's also very possible thay your BIOS will support a 20GB drive, so it's worth trying atleast. If it doesnt support the drive, then dont go trough the hassle.. If it does, then move on from there.

 

[Audio Redneck]

I agree with everyone about upgrading the drive: Its a lot of work and almosts certainly will require another PC if you want to do it without re-installing the operating system.

Another option is getting a 20gb external drive that plugs into your USB port. This would give you:

1. Plug and Play storage.
2. A backup of your really important stuff.
3. Quick access of your data on another PC if notebook dies.

Dirt Cheap Drives has them for $195
http://www.dirtcheapdrives.com/cgi-bin/webstore.exe

I've replaced about 7-8 notebook drives and the data recovery/transfer is always a LOOONNNGGG process and is rarely faster than re-installing Windows and the programs.

Good luck in which-ever path you take.